BBCC tests No. 1 seed in NIC

MOSES LAKE — Coming off of a bye Monday, the Lady Vikes hoped to come out firing against the top team in the Eastern Region as they traveled to North Idaho College to challenge the Cardinals. Although the Lady Vikes and Cardinals are on opposite sides of the standings, the Lady Vikes gave the Cards a run for their money in their first match and hoped to do the same Wednesday, Oct. 18.

Set one was a back-and-forth battle with the Cardinals edging out the Lady Vikes by a score of 25-21, with early signs of life, the Lady Vikes got the best of the Cards by taking the second set in extra points by a score of 27-25. After an emotional second set, there was a crash for BBCC as they were not able to ride the momentum as NIC was able to take the third and fourth set by scores of 25-14 and 25-18. Head coach Alexa Moser had this to say regarding the match "Although we didn't come out on top, the turning point was honestly the first set. We have been struggling starting out strong in our last few matches and to be neck and neck in the first set with one of the best teams in the NWAC gave our girls some confidence. It showed them that we can compete with a great team like that. And so set 2, we came out on fire. 8 of our points coming from blocks alone and 19 digs? Our defensive play was unreal last night. We were shutting down their offense left and right. And to be down 23-20 at the end of that set and fight back to win 27-25, that just shows the heart and competitive drive that Big Bend volleyball stands for. In the end, defense can only get you so far and our offense just didn't quite match the level of play that our defense did and so some of those long rallies or being able to put a ball away when we needed to just wasn't quite there. Except for Dakota Killian who had an amazing night. But in volleyball, one player can't carry your entire team, so we just have to find a way to be more efficient offensively."

Dakota Killian was the lone offensive force collecting nine kills while Emma Lucas dished out 20 assists. BBCC knew they would have to limit mistakes in this match, Moser stated "In practice this week, we talked a lot about focusing on ourselves. It was one of our main focuses at the beginning of season and I wanted to reiterate it. As of recent, there was a lot of unforced errors, letting teams go on runs of 4-6 points and it's hard to compete when you dig yourself a six-point deficit, especially at the beginning of a set. NIC is a great team and a strong offensive team and so I told the girls we have to find a way to sideout right away against a team like that and keep the ball on our side. And set 1 and 2 last night we really showed that. Even though we started out with a loss in set 1, it was a back-and-forth battle. Our passing was stellar in the first set and so we were able to run an in system offense, and then our blocking came up BIG TIME for us last night. We were averaging over 4 blocks a set."

At this point in the season, the wins and losses are not the only focus. Building for the future and understanding the standard of play, Moser had this to say regarding the loss "This loss is nothing to hang our heads about. The girls showed up and competed for 4 straight sets. NIC is the best team in our region and one of the best overall in the NWAC and to be able to hang with them and even take a set from them is a great feat. It makes me proud as a coach. Now if we can show up and compete like that against the remainder of the teams in our region play, we are going to add some W's to our wins column."

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